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Torrey Mitchell, nine other San Jose Sharks to become free agents Sunday

By David Pollak dpollak@mercurynews.com

Posted:
06/30/2012 01:19:53 PM PDT

Updated:
06/30/2012 08:54:51 PM PDT

Click photo to enlarge

San Jose Sharks Torrey Mitchell (17) tries to keep an eye on the puck against the Edmonton Oilers in the first period at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif. on Tuesday, December 21, 2010. (Nhat V. Meyer/ Mercury News)

Ten Sharks are about to become free agents Sunday, but forward Torrey Mitchell is the only one who came up through their system and has more than a handful of games at the NHL level.

And while his future is uncertain, Mitchell seemed to be taking things in stride Saturday, not voicing any resentment about how things played out in San Jose.

"No, I had a great five years there, great experience," he said. "It's a business -- there's no hard feelings at all."

Mitchell, 27, was the Sharks fourth-round draft pick in 2004 and scored a career-high 10 goals in his rookie year of 2007-08. All in all, he played 280 games in San Jose, including 76 last season.

The Sharks were not expected to come up with any eleventh hour contracts for five other players from their NHL roster -- Daniel Winnik, Dominic Moore, Brad Winchester, Colin White and Jim Vandermeer. Minor league players Antero Niittymaki, Mike Moore, John McCarthy and Ben Guite also will be free to sign with any other organization at 9 a.m. Sunday.

Sharks general manager Doug Wilson has indicated he will be checking out the free-agent market but stopped short of saying he expects a signing within the first 24 hours. He has put a top priority on adding wingers, describing his team as well-stocked on defense and at center.

Mitchell tried to find a bright side of his situation.

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"I don't know, it's kind of fun at the same time," he said. "It's looking like I'm going to be getting a fresh start somewhere else."

Did he sense the Sharks might not be bringing him back after last season, when he scored 19 points and finished minus-6 in what was mostly a third-line role?

"I was prepared for whatever," Mitchell said. "There's been so much change since my first year in San Jose. Every year there's been so many new faces that I was fully prepared at any point over the last five years."

Mitchell missed the entire 2008-09 season after fracturing his leg in training camp, then suffering a second injury during a conditioning assignment. He was slow to recover from both and never seemed to quite get back on track after returning.

"For me, it's behind me," Mitchell said of the injury. "Hopefully that's not part of it, because I feel pretty much back to normal. But that's a good question -- you'd have to ask Doug that."

Sunday is also the start of a window in defenseman Dan Boyle's contract during which the team can ask him to identify a fixed number of teams to which he would accept a trade.